Fly Away
by Sheraven
Summary: Robin comes to see his failures as a Titan, and decides he can't endanger his friends anymore. Warning: Mature theme of suicide.


Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, or any of their respective affiliates.

**Fly Away**

It was dark. The moon was new, the clouds blocked the starlight and even the streetlights had long since burned out. No one on this private land wanted or was willing to pay for them to be fixed. The entire mansion was dark, with the exception of one tiny light in the top window that weakly fought off the midnight gloom. The vicious dog that patrolled the grounds was also dark, both in color and attitude. His days as a puppy in the fighting rings had made him that way. His attention only momentarily diverted by a dark shadow passing overhead, Ace continued sniffing the grounds, seeking any signs of an intruder. Not finding any, the dog trotted off toward the gate.

Watching the animal go was another dark creature. He also had not always been that way, but it was his time fighting that had changed him as well. He even wore darkness, he was sheathed in uncharacteristically black body armor and cape. A chill breeze pushed at his black, spiked hair, and for a moment, the watcher had doubts as to why he had come. A distant but familiar sound made it's way to his ears, it was the sound of the Batmobile blasting out of the secret entrance at high speeds. It would appear that Terry was out for the night. Bruce would be alone. The watcher wondered if that mattered, would he have the guts to face Batman?

Unlike his mentor, Robin had faced his greatest foe and had never won. Even the Joker had been sent to Arkham more often than not, but Robin simply couldn't get Slade. He had tried everything he could think of, confronting him straight out, enlisting the help of his gifted compatriots, trying to trick him, infiltrate him, even kill him, but to no avail. As hard as he tried, Robin simply wasn't good enough. Slade had even come to haunt him after he was destroyed in molten lava, still defeating the young crime fighter, and worse than ever. Robin knew he wasn't good enough to be a Teen Titan, let alone lead them. He was a normal guy who simply couldn't hack it.

His lack of ability had not let him sleep soundly in weeks. After his run-in with the imaginary Slade, Robin had been careful not to put himself in any positions of command. If the other Titans had noticed, they hadn't said anything. Robin usually stayed behind saying he was still healing or had research to do. He couldn't risk getting his friends hurt because of his incompetence. He was disgusted with his inability to measure up. Because of that, after the other Titans left, he would begin to train. He would work his body until the muscles wouldn't respond anymore, and then work them some more. He figured that perhaps he was too physically weak to handle Slade.

After weeks of such brutal training, he faced Slade again. Again, he was defeated. Whether the battle was real or not Robin couldn't tell anymore. His body was exhausted, his sleep was erratic and what sleep he did get was filled with night terrors that woke him screaming more often than not. Each team member had asked him about his welfare and he had brushed them off, attributing the disturbing dreams and extreme fatigue to a remnant of the hallucinogenic compound still in his blood. Robin knew the truth though. He knew he was slowly killing himself in his effort to match up to his comrades, and it came to him one night that he would never be good enough to be a Teen Titan.

It just happened one evening while the other Titans were out; he was poring over the latest satellite tracking information. He had hacked into a Wayne satellite to monitor any phone calls with the word "Slade". So far, all he had turned up was a bunch of old HIVE members trying to form a group. Pathetic. He had read the same paragraph three times before he realized the pattern. The code words used for locations suddenly made sense and he shredded his room looking for an old file. Sure enough, Slade's plan to infiltrate Robin and his friends with the biogenic control devices was right there in front of him! The other Titans could have been _killed _because of his stupidity! On another printout was the plan to make sure Robin kept Slade's uniform in the tower, thereby giving the villain access.

Now that he knew what he was looking for, he was surrounded by documents laying it out in the open. Slade was practically telling him the plan. It appeared that Slade had been correct when he taunted that he had become slow. The fact that Slade was right about Robin's inability hit him like a ton of bricks. The crumpled papers dropped from his hand as he stared in horror at his image in the mirror. He was being played by that orange and black loony, and had never seen any of it! He had led his friends right into Slade's hands over and over, and was almost ready to dumbly do it again. Robin was a total failure, not only as a leader, but as any kind of crime fighter. What was he good for?

Robin sat in silence for the rest of the night, watching the moths dance around the naked light bulb over his table. At first, he had pounded the table with his fist, berating himself for being so worthless. The table eventually broke and he turned to hitting anything else he could find in his room. He was filled with self-loathing and couldn't contain it. He beat the walls until his fists bled, then fell to his knees and screamed at himself until he was hoarse. If the other Titans had been there, they surely would have had him committed. As the night wore on, his rage spent itself and he resorted to sitting on the floor, leaning against the broken frame of his bed, staring at the moths.

Of the two moths that circled the light, one of them kept flying directly into the bulb. It hit the glass with a light tinkle over and over again. Robin was sure it was burning and battering itself, he thought it should stop, even though it couldn't. Even catching on fire and dying surely must be preferable to bashing itself senseless. It was then that he had his epiphany. He was just like that moth, beating himself against Slade, not being able to stop. Under his mask, Robin's eyes hardened as resolve took him.

He dug out some paper, found a pencil fragment big enough to write with and began his notes. By the time he was finished, he had five similar notes folded cleanly and precisely. He cleaned his room so it sparkled and gathered all his materials on Slade. Knowing the Titans would be back soon, he left his red, yellow and green uniform folded crisply on his made bed. He pulled his Red-X uniform from the closet and ripped off the X, leaving the mask on the shelf. He donned the dark clothing and carried the Slade files to the records room. After filing them appropriately, he left a note on each Titan's bed, bidding them a silent farewell. The last note he slipped into a pocket, he would deliver it personally. His sleek motorcycle had just cleared earshot when Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg came home.

The giant black dog had passed below, so it was time to go. Moving as quietly as a shadow, Robin crept along the power lines that lead to the Wayne mansion and dropped onto the roof. He, of only two people, knew how to sneak past Ace, and he decided to do so in case there was a problem. The dog had been mislead by familiar scents before. He knew all the secret entrances and knew exactly how to get into the Batcave from various places in the house. His time with the Titans had sharpened him enough that he made no noise as he slipped in the study window. Thinking of his friends in Jump City made his heart clench. He had done nothing but fail them, and he was sure they would be better off without him.

The dark Robin crept over to the towering grandfather clock that rested between the bookshelves, and pulled on the pendulum just slowly enough to release the latch. As soon as he heard a click, he let go, and the back of the clock swung open without tripping the electronic watchdog system. He squeezed past the doorway and carefully pushed the door back into place, again stopping once he heard a click. Unwilling to be seen, he ran up one wall of the descending staircase and caught the jagged stalagmites that hung down. Cautiously, he moved along the ceiling from spike to spike, staying out of the light and not making a sound. At the bottom, he dropped and quickly slipped out of sight.

In the tower shaped like a T, each of the Titans emerged from their respective rooms with the same panicked look. Starfire was so frightened that she only clutched the note to her chest, tears spilling down her face. Beast Boy was sniffing around frantically in the form of a bloodhound, searching for which way Robin's scent led. Raven had closed her eyes and has floating as she softly chanted her magical words, when Cyborg's voice yelled at them from the garage, "Just tell me where I'm goin' BB, hurry!"

Before the shape shifter could answer, Raven's eyes flew open and she practically shouted "He's in Gotham!" before sinking though the floor to join Cyborg. Starfire, and Beast Boy flew from the tower as fast as their powers could take them, with Cyborg and Raven roaring behind them in the car. The half machine half man was already calling the new Batman to meet them, maybe he was close enough to stop him.

There, in front of the towering Batcomputer, sat Bruce. He still retained the presence he'd always had, even though he was an old man now. His body might be giving out, but his mind was as sharp as ever, and he didn't move a muscle as Robin snuck toward him. On the oversized screen flashed with simultaneous images; what was in front of the Batmobile, the latest police bulletins, an compositional analysis of something and a radar screen displaying the tracking dot of the new Batsuit. Terry's life signs were also displayed, as was a view of the front gate of Wayne Manor. Bruce merely nodded as Terry told him something over the communicator.

In the shadows, Robin felt his already weak resolve crumble. There was no way he could face Bruce after his miserable failures against Slade. The fifth note was for Batman, his teacher, mentor and friend; he couldn't bring himself to look in the eyes of the man who was his role model. He had failed terribly trying to follow in his footsteps, and now he was ashamed to show his face.

Now deciding not to say anything to the legend, he searched for a good place to leave his note so Bruce would find it. He crept around the cave, staying in the dark, until he was behind the gigantic computer. Carefully, Robin scooted along one side until he could barely hear Bruce typing over the noise of the substantial processor. He watched the older man's shadow until he saw him look the other way, then silently deposited the note on the surface of the computer, his face burning with shame. Bruce didn't turn around, so Robin didn't see the worried look on Batman's face as he tracked Robin with his hearing.

Having accomplished his task, Robin crept back out of the Batcave and breathed a sigh of relief. Because he and the Dark Knight had been dear friends, he didn't want to see the look of disappointment on his mentor's face. He was already ashamed of his failures enough on his own, he didn't want it from Bruce too. Sneaking past Ace again and getting back on his bike, he drove the short distance to the edge of the Gotham Cliffs, where he could see Jump City's lights way in the distance. He felt battered and burned, like the moth around the light bulb. He dismounted and walked up to the edge of the cliff. The time had come.

The Batmobile's sensors picked up the Titans before Terry could see them, and he could tell they were all converging on the Wayne mansion. Two dark specks on the darker ground were Bruce and Ace running toward the Birdcycle. Starfire's path left a blinding streak in the night and Beast Boy's pterodactyl eyes had a frightening intensity to them. Each of them saw Robin at the edge of the cliff and went for him as fast as they were able. Ace was barking to get his attention, but nothing seemed to have an effect. They were simply too far away. Screeching up the private road were Cyborg and Raven.

No more would Robin's friends be in danger because he was incompetent, no longer would Bruce have to live with the knowledge that his protégé was a complete failure, and for the last time, Slade will have won. Feeling a strange calmness come over him, the boy wonder pulled his mask off and looked down with his pale blue eyes, noticing for the first time how beautiful the waters looked as they broke against the jagged rock face three hundred feet below. He would fly from this dark place, he was a Robin after all, and leave his miserable failures behind. Lifting his arms like wings, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, feeling the cold night air run through his hair and lift his cape. In a most graceful swan dive, Robin leaped from the cliff, leaving his mask to float gently to the ground beside his cycle.

_The End_


End file.
